The disclosure of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/014,467, filed Jun. 19, 2014, is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
In the single serve beverage dispensing machine art, particularly machines configured to brew single serving packets, pods, or capsules of coffee, tea, and other beverages, it is well known to provide a manner of automatically ejecting used or spent pods, capsules, or packages, which may be empty or contain residual beverage media, e.g., coffee grounds, tea leaves, etc. Apparatus for effecting such disposal fall generally within two categories, motor driven or powered apparatus, and operator driven. Reference generally in regard to the first category, Webster et al, U.S. Pat. No. 8,490,542. Reference in regard to the latter category, Beaulieu, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,554; Santi U.S. Pat. No. 6,345,570; Hale European Patent EP1486150 A2; and Ariete International Patent Application Publication Serial No. WO2007045553. The first category is generally satisfactory in operation, but is costly and complex. An observed shortcoming of the second category is that the force of the ejecting action is largely dependent on or subject to the action of the human operator in operating the driving mechanism, whether it be when opening the brewing chamber to insert a new pod or capsule, or some other ejection action. In particular, if the driving mechanism is operated slowly, sluggishly, or not sufficiently forcefully, proper ejection may not occur. The used pod or capsule may only be partially ejected, or not at all, with possible jamming or malfunction of the machine, requiring repeating the action and/or cleaning the associated machine components.
Thus, what is sought is a manner of providing automatic ejection or removal of used or spent pods, capsules, and the like, from a beverage dispensing machine, that overcomes one or more of the disadvantages and shortcomings of the known machines and apparatus.